Tracking the Tigers with MLB.com beat writer Jason Beck.

Why Iglesias is unlikely to be traded

Earlier in the summer, this was supposed to be the week that the Tigers either had their acquired shortstop in their lineup or were going to swing a deal for a shortstop to finally fill the void left by Jose Iglesias’ stress fractures. Eugenio Suarez’s performance over the past couple months has quieted that.

He hasn’t been a sensation, but for a rookie shortstop, he has been much better than expected, enough so that the Tigers feel comfortable going into the stretch run and the postseason with him. What happens next year is another matter, which leads to Nick Cafardo’s tidbit in Sunday’s Boston Globe:

Scouts hearing the Tigers are really impressed with rookie shortstop Eugenio Suarez and may trade Iglesias, who has missed this season with stress fractures in both shins.

It’s an interesting twist, and it says a ton about Suarez’s performance so far. But here are four reasons why it’s not likely to happen, at least not anytime soon:

Trading Iglesias anytime in the near future would be dealing him at the low point of his value, and that’s not something Dave Dombrowski does with young players. While the return package the Tigers received for Doug Fister is still being scrutinized, much like the motivations for moving him, the value Fister held to teams at that point was about at its high point — two years away from free agency, coming off a very good stretch, injury woes seemingly behind him. Iglesias goes into next season having missed an entire year and likely with questions to answer about his long-term health, given the unusual nature of his injury and the difficulty in discovering it (including in the midst of medical evaluations during the trade). He’s going to have to prove he can not only play every day at a high level, but keep it up to gain value for other clubs. It could come in the big leagues, it could come in the minors, but from a health standpoint, he’s got to show it.

There isn’t a major financial motivation to trade him yet. He won’t be eligible for arbitration until after next season. He makes $1.65 million this year because it was the maximum pay cut allowed after the four-year, $8.25 million contract he first signed as a Cuban free agent ended.

Suarez has had two months to show he can play, enough to earn the Tigers’ trust for the rest of the year. Whether it’s enough to show he’s better than a healthy Iglesias is a different question. He’s two years younger, which is a big advantage, but he also has yet to go through a round of major adjustments, either at Detroit or Toledo. Iglesias’ season last year showed some of the risks of small sample sizes — a .330 average and .785 OPS over 234 plate appearances with Boston, then a .259 average and .654 OPS over 148 plate appearances (granted, injury-hampered ones) in Detroit.

The Tigers in recent years haven’t shied away from creating some Spring Training competition. Rick Porcello was supposedly a goner a year and a half ago once the Tigers re-signed Anibal Sanchez. The Tigers ended up holding onto Porcello and letting him battle Drew Smyly for the fifth spot in the rotation. The rest has worked out fairly well. Considering the Tigers didn’t sell low on Porcello then, it seems unlikely they’d sell even lower on Iglesias now.

“The fact Moya is seen by critics as less than a perfect player can frustrate his bosses” why? they make the call not Baseball America or BYB. Unless you want to trade a player or you need leverage ,who cares?

“Moya is an example of the Latin American player who arrives in North America minus the statistical portfolio United States prospects have been accruing since their high school days.” Yes I have noticed that Latin- American players usually rank low among prospect only to jump over the better ranked prospects: Garcia, Suarez mentioned in the article but also Perez,,Ortega, Villareal. Some of them showed the rankings wrong others not

Last year Iglesias played two months for the Tigers and Suarez has done nearly the same this year. Just about the same number of starts and both have been involved in 30 DPs as Tigers. Iglesias more polished in the field and Suarez a more complete
package at the plate. Yes, this could be a good competition next spring.

But getting back to this year, what about Mc Cann coming up and send Bryan down for regular ABs at Toledo?? Doubles are important you all know and Mc Cann has 26 this season and he murders LHP. Bryan is a solid receiver but has little pop in the bat and just does not hit LHP. Meanwhile, AA leads all AL catchers with 38 walks and is fourth in that group in doubles and tied for ninth in homers. AA has always had a loud bat. Agree with you that it’s frustrating that he can not hit for a higher average and swings and misses way too much. But so far those bombs and his OBP get him the PT. Oh, he is a LHB, too.

i don’t think Holaday is in any jeopardy of his roster spot. he’s done some little things that mean a lot…pickoff at 1st in the late innings the other day vs Arizona. the gamewinning bunt earlier in season. McCann seems a likely Sept callup unless he gets traded before then.

Staff ERA with Holaday 3.58. With Avila 4.10 SO/W 2.92 /2,52. Holaday can call a game. During the Porcello?- Jackson?-.Suarez? , (pick who to blame) misplay, Holaday was jumping and screaming at home, he was in the game
Holaday vs RHP:359 /.405/.385/.789 in a very little sample. The LH vs RHP:222/.350/.394 /745
Doc has earned more playing time. Bringing McCann up to rust like Holaday?

When are we going to see the next installment of the never-ending saga: The Andy Dirks Rehab Revival Story?
If anyone, including David Dombrowski, thinks Andy Dirks is going to make a difference for the Detroit Tigers in 2014 they need some couch time with a mental health specialist.

Yesterday was supposed to be the day Dirks worked out to see if he was ready to resume a rehab assignment. No update on him in the Tigers game notes today, so we’ll have to ask. But yeah, it’s kind of one of those believe it when you see it scenarios.

Last year our team lost the stolen base battle by the wide margin of 128 to 35. We were last in the AL in stolen bases and also the worst team at throwing out basestealers. Something tells me that this was a hot topic when Brad Ausmus interviewed for the managerial job.

So how are we doning this year?? After 102 games, we have attempted 100 steals and our opponents have too. That’s amazing but the battle has tightened up to where we lead 67 to 66. We rank 5th in steals and our catchers are second in the throw them out stats. Hats off to AA and Doc. Also kudos to DD for bringing us Rajai
and Ian. To lead by one, it has been a total team effort. Right now a 67% steal rate is certainly okay.

In the same page with Henning:http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20140728/SPORTS0104/307280133/Inconsistent-hitting-has-cost-Tigers-since-All-Star-break
“not even Miguel Cabrera, who is hitting .319 with two home runs — healthy numbers but well beneath Cabrera’s normal rate of return.”
“Torii Hunter has a couple of long homers, although his post-break batting average, .242″
“Alex Avila? It is almost too gory to believe: .097 since the break, with 13 strikeouts in 31 at-bats”
“Ian Kinsler is hitting .174 since the break. Victor Martinez,,,, has since hit .227 with zero homers.”
I was not that off base with Hunter( or at least I have company) . And no need to talk about his fielding ( or lack of)

Cabrera, the injury.
Martinez, possibly the same.
Hunter was hot before the break so is evening out for now.
Kinsler is prone to this. I’d like to outfit him with a harness to keep his back shoulder up.
Avila will never hit, something management seems blind to.

Last night the Nats led 6-0 after six, 6-2 after seven, and 6-3 after eight. Soriano came in to close and promptly gave up four runs. Worse than that, he stood on the mound, hands on hips, and watched after each extra base hit, never bothering to back up any bases.
Give me Nathan.

Torii is a mixed bag. Seems to have a knack for hitting into DPs with the sacks loaded or 1st &2nd. Yet, the stats say he is performing better than his mates.
Here’s a thought. If Miggy starts hitting better at cleanup (can’t see why he would be any different) and they want to keep him there why don’t they consider moving Castellanos up to the 3rd spot and let him him see more fastballs (which he likes very much, thank you)?
Kinsler is being wasted in front of Miggy now anyway. He hits when he hits and doesn’t seem to matter what is thrown at him.

Although I’m perfectly happy with the performance of Suarez, I’d sure love to see #1 and #3 do their magic in the infield. Even if I was dead and they traded Iglesias, I’d roll around in my grave. Miss Iggy so much!

Kinsler came with rumors of having hitting funks, so I’m not surprised, but I never knew what a great 2nd baseman he was until this year.

The following are trademarks or service marks of Major League Baseball entities and may be used only with permission of Major League Baseball Properties, Inc. or the relevant Major League Baseball entity: Major League, Major League Baseball, MLB, the silhouetted batter logo, World Series, National League, American League, Division Series, League Championship Series, All-Star Game, and the names, nicknames, logos, uniform designs, color combinations, and slogans designating the Major League Baseball clubs and entities, and their respective mascots, events and exhibitions.